Absentee Voting in Natrona County Poised to Break Records

The absentees manifested themselves in force at the Old Natrona County Courthouse on Monday to cast their ballots the day before the primary election.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, 6,029 Natrona County residents voted compared to 3,836 in the last off-presidential election year in 2018, Natrona County Clerk Tracy Good said. The Natrona County Clerk is responsible for overseeing elections in the county.

The rest are unaffiliated or members of small parties such as Libertarian and Constitution, Good said.

Good attributed the higher interest in part to the COVID pandemic in 2020 during which people found they liked absentee voting, she said.

And the interest has been fueled this year by the Republican primary featuring incumbent U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney challenged by Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, who has received former President Donald Trump.

As of Monday afternoon, Good said there were 35,925 registered voters in the county, with 27,289 including 27,289 Republicans and 3,972 Democrats.

Good said her office is ready for the election.

"All the machines went through all of their testing that as required by statute and that was done several weeks ago," she said. "The equipment has been delivered today and things are ready to go for tomorrow."

Historically, the peak hours for voting are early for those going to work, the lunch hour, and after 5 p.m. when people get off work, Good said.

The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

At the polls, election judges will not tolerate anyone harassing voters or causing any kind of disturbances. They will call Natrona County Sheriff's deputies to handle those problems, she said.

And with a nod to those voting absentee outside her office, Good noted that many people were having trouble casting their ballots because they improperly marked them, and the County Clerk employees had to help them.

The ballots have ovals by candidates' names.

Despite explicit instructions to fill in the ovals, some people would draw a line through them or draw a check mark.

"Fill in the oval as on the instructions," Good said.